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You are here: Articles > Flight stories > Flughafen #2
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Article overview After an 11-hour transit, a teenager crosses the Atlantic for the very first time on a charter flight in a narrow-body B757, from Toronto to Düsseldorf. Originally published in September 2000. |
 fter 11 hours spent checking in at the Air Transat counter, watching the planes from Terminal 1's multi-storey parking (which, plane-spotters, offers an outstanding view on the runways), watching the queues forming in the departures level for flights going as far as Hong Kong, Sydney, Honolulu... and having a snack or two... it is time to proceed to the restricted area, once more, and to board this 7-hour long flight, my longest non-stop at the time.
 No excess luggage?
At 1:30PM, after collecting my luggage from the locker (which costed 5 CAD for one suitcase), I proceed to the Air Transat check-in counter, which is almost empty. Next to me, an elderly couple, already checking in for the same flight: TS242, non-stop to Düsseldorf. At first, I show the ticket to the agent, and said: "Hi... I'm checking in for flight 242, to Düsseldorf". Seems she wasn't paying attention since she started tearing off the flight coupon for the Toronto-Montréal flight, which wasn't to be used for another two weeks! Just when she finished tearing it, she says: "Wait a minute... this ticket is for Dorval." "No, no, it's on the other page... There!"
After showing my passport, I ask for a window seat at the front of the cabin, and located near a television monitor. I'm assigned seat 3A. Right after that, the agent, looking at the passport, asks: "It says here you're ONLY 18 years old. Do you need someone to accompany or assist you?" Immediately, I thought she was referring to the UM service. Yeah, like I look like someone needing UM service! I reply: "No, it's alright! I've flown here from Montreal without problem and besides, someone is picking me up at Düsseldorf." I'm wondering if I don't look too young sometimes! Impressive, but in my boarding pass, she indicates one piece of luggage of 21 kg. No need to show my receipt for excess luggage. Either she understood I already passed with this suitcase on the flight from Montreal without problem or with an excess luggage fee already paid... or her scale was not functioning properly and indicated really 21 kg. I didn't say a word about it! 6 hours later...The ticket shows a boarding time of 7:20PM. Interesting point: usually the tickets and boarding passes printed out are all in capitals. But this one, in the "from" field, indicates "Toronto Int Airp", while the "to" field says: "DUSSELDORF". Wonder what Germans would say about that! The correct spelling is Düsseldorf, with an umlaut on the "U". If accents are not available on a computer, one must type an "e" after the unaccentuated letter, in German. So in this case, it should have been "DUESSELDORF". But no need to argue about that!
I show at gate C27 at 7:00PM and take a seat. About thirty minutes later, the gate agent approaches and starts setting the television monitors behind her. A few minutes later, the Air Transat logo (with the URL, being part of the logo itself) appears. On one monitor: "WELCOME - PLEASE BE SEATED", and on the other "TS242 DUSSELDORF - DEP: 2020". I take a few moments to make a quick phone call to my parents.
When I come back, there is already a queue forming, in despite of the "Please be seated" sign. People never understand. It isn't a "first come, first serve" boarding like, say Southwest or the late Western Pacific. There is an order to follow. When, at approximately 7:45PM, preboarding starts and is followed immediately by boarding of the passengers at the front and back, I form a line immediately next to the erratic rushed-out line and board among the first, along with all the other passengers seated at the front and back of the plane. Entering the 757...As I step inside the narrow-body aircraft, I show my boarding pass, or whatever is left of it, to the flight attendant ("Seat 3A, to the left hand side, at the front"), and ask if I could visit the flight deck. "We'll have to see with the Captain during the flight". At that moment, right behind me, enters the First Officer. Our flight attendant says, with a big smile and a grin: "Flight deck, to the left hand side at the front!"... I ask the First Officer if I could visit the flight deck and he tells me in return to ask the flight attendant when we reach our cruising altitude. Ever heard of ping-pong? Passing the "problem" to each other? As I get close to my seat, one of my seat neighbors, on seat 3C, lets me get to my seat with a kind "bitte" (please). Immediately after that, a young woman, about my age, asks if she could have the window seat. I reply that I really want the window seat, but that we might switch later on in the flight, as long as I get the window seat for take-off. Why a seat at the front? I wanted to board and deplane among the first and, apparently, there is less noise at the front of the cabin. No wonder they put the First Class there. However, there is still a lot of noise. 
Over the P.A., captain Michel Jobin welcomes us aboard and apologizes for the delay, due to a late refueling, and then the chief flight attendant welcomes us aboard, first in English, then in French. Seconds later, a young female voice (either live or recorded, I don't know) welcomes us aboard in German. The same voice will do all the German announcements during the flight. At about 8:24PM, already four minutes after our scheduled take-off time, the plane starts pushback, as the gate agents, who all look to be only a few years older than me, watch our plane smiling, or joking around. We taxi very slowly to runway 23, and after the landing of an Air Nova Dash-8, and the take-off of an Air Canada DC-9, it's our turn to kiss goodbye LBPIA (Lester B. Pearson International Airport). It is 8:40PM when the gear is retracted.
AscentAs the plane climbs, about a minute after take-off, I immediately notice we climb slower than before, and the thrust is reduced. I wonder if it's the noise abatement rules. A few moments later, the seat belt sign turns off, as we fly past the clouds. Although it is obvious we are flying at 20,000 ft, at most, the video monitors displays the entertainment program for the flight, introduced by a flight attendant explaining we have now reached our cruising altitude. The narrator explains that according to the length of a flight, a meal and/or a snack will be served. Also, a small package containing electronic headphones, eye shades and a pair of socks is sold for 5 CAD, 4 USD (although the real price should be about 3.50 USD) or 7 DEM (which is an accurate conversion). Usually these are for free, but since I could always use an extra pair of headphones, I bought one later on, when the flight attendants passed through the cabin. At last, goodbye to the old rubber headphones usable only on the airlines! The video also showed the trailers of the movies to be shown. I remember the first movie was Erin Brockovich but I never remembered the name of the second movie. What I do remember from the other one is that the trailer was accompanied with the caption: "Property of Columbia Pictures". I have now identified it as Center Stage. The first movie was with a soundtrack in English or German, and with subtitles in Dutch, "since Air Transat flies to many destinations in Europe", as explained by the flight attendant... But before the movie starts, and as the meal is served, we are presented a small half-hour programming composed of video clips, including Britney Spears' "Oops! I Did It Again", separated by small commercials for either Air Transat destinations, or other companies as Canada Direct (allowing Canadians to call home from nearly any country around the world, via a bilingual operator) or a Toronto rent-a-car company bearing a name as lame as "Rent-a-Wreck". Unbelievable. Main course, with warm drinksAs announced by our chief flight attendant, our main course is beef with barbecue sauce, and Mexican rice. The first thing I notice is that our tray is smaller than on the few airlines I flew with in the past. It is the first time I barely have enough space to even use the plastic fork and knife to cut my meat. The food is excellent, though. Along with that, I have bread, salad, and a small piece of carrot cake, and I am offered red or white wine to accompany the meal. About five minutes after the meal is served, the flight attendants pass with drinks. Their only problem is that they don't think of offering ice... or at least, serving the drinks chilled. My apple juice is almost warm, and I only notice that after the flight attendant is already in the next row, serving other warm drinks. My seat mate is not happy about that either and asks a flight attendant, passing again with the trolley, if she can have ice for her drink. The flight attendant replies that it is impossible. "Sorry!" Talk about service. It is only when I finished my meal that I noticed that the small plastic recipient I was putting my warm apple juice glass into was in fact to serve the after-dinner coffee or tea. I wouldn't have guessed that, since it has no handle! But still, after pouring hot tea into it, the cup is not hot and easy to use. Battle with the Jet Lag!
It is more than half an hour after the meal was served, and about five minutes since the flight attendants last asked: "Want some more coffee?" that the trays are removed. I look outside, and as we are flying somewhere over either Labrador or north of Newfoundland, I try to fall asleep, even if the movie sounds very interesting, and was the subject of a lot of positive comments from people I know. It is already one and a half hours into the flight, at least. A few moments after there is no longer a single meal tray in the passenger seats, the lights are dimmed...
Later on, I give up. Even if I use the technique of "leaning on the window with your pillow on" to sleep, I can't. Instead, I try to change from the soundtrack of the movie, to the other audio programs available. I notice then the sound quality is terrible. It sounds just like an AM radio, or worse. If, on other airlines, using rubber headphones, I had a good sound quality (with music that could even put me asleep), I was expecting outstanding stereo sound with my electronic headphones. Instead, it was worse. The finale of "O Fortuna" from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana (which you probably heard at least once), never sounded so bad, perhaps in part because of the headphones. At that moment, my seat mate asked if she could have an extra pillow, and the flight attendant replies that all the pillows have been placed on each seat and that there are no extra pillows available. This flight reminds me of Bette Davis saying "Fasten your seat belts, it's gonna be a bumpy night" in All About Eve, even if it has nothing to do with... whatever is done in bed. It is VERY bumpy though. The seat belt sign turns on and off and remains off even when the turbulence hits hard. I mean, no way to keep that sign on during the whole flight. Another factor that won't help me sleep. Just when I am about to remove the headphones, the radio is cut and I hear the flight attendant saying: "Sorry for the interruption, ladies and gentlemen. In a few moments, our flight attendants will pass through the cabin for our Duty-Free Shop. You are invited to read our catalogue located by your seat. Thank you." I was expecting to be able to sleep after that, but just as my eyes are closed and I'm about to rest at least, I hear a loud: "DUTY FREE! ZOLLFREI!" which is repeated on and on by the flight attendants, almost like in the European movie theaters, trains, or beaches... or maybe even more like the North American vendors yelling "Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs here!" Well... they REALLY seem to be interested in waking up everyone. It almost makes me NOT want to buy that Air Transat A330 scale model. I will buy it on the return flight. I remember our AeroPeru flight, which was overnight too. Even with the Duty-Free Shop, the flight attendants simply announced the service, and passed the catalogue. Still, they failed previously, by NOT passing any type of headphones for the inflight movie. No wait... they DID pass headphones, but the movie soundtrack was not available on a single channel. Short nightIt is already three and a half hours into the flight, and I still try to sleep. In the meantime, I switched with my seat mate for her to have the window seat, since anyway, I wasn't able to sleep. I try closing my eyes, but even with no outside distraction, and with the fact that I was awake for already 20 hours, after only 4 hours of sleep, I can't fall asleep. I guess I am not the kind of person being able to sleep on a plane... especially in such a cramped position. My other seat mate, on seat 3C, is a German grown-up, and spent the entire flight doing crosswords. At least, I had no trouble having to wake up someone in order to go to the lavatory, for example. 
The window shades are nearly all down, as suggested by the flight attendant, but in the row in front of us, a passenger only pulled it down by half, and I can see the sun is already up. Over the P.A., the chief flight attendant starts talking, with a very soft voice, by saying the local time in Germany (approximately 7 AM, Thursday) and by saying: "It is our pleasure to offer you a morning snack accompanied with coffee or tea." Just like in the announcement for dinner, the flight attendant kindly asks: "If you would like to join us for this snack, in regards for the passenger seated behind you, please put your seat back up right, and put down your folding tray. Thank you." With a reduced legroom, I understand the importance of the last part of this announcement.
Our morning snack (or a more fancy way to say "light breakfast") is served in a rectangular box which is very short and wide. Inside fit perfectly a wrapped apple-and-spice muffin, a Minute Maid orange juice, and a cup (this time, with a handle!) for the coffee or tea. The muffin is fresh and tasty, but cold, and so is the O.J., as last! I feel like the last meal was just moments ago. The night sure was short. Remember it is 1 AM in Montreal and I have heard of few people eating a muffin with juice and coffee so late at night! That's why, honestly, I'm glad it's not a complete breakfast. But at least, it's one more way for one to adapt to a new time zone. Later on, approximately five and a half hours into the flight, we are flying over Glasgow, Scotland. Our ETA is 9:45 AM, CET (Central Europe Time). The second movie is long over, I now ask if I could visit the flight deck. My seat mate is interested in joining me for that visit. Oops. I notice there are already a bunch of schoolchildren visiting the flight deck, and many taking pictures. The flight attendant replies: "Hum... I'll see if the Captain is taking more people". He shortly comes back and says: "Sorry! The Captain is taking no more people". I just frown. But in my head, I say: "What an unfriendly captain!"... or an angrier comment. I'd better get my visit on the return flight! Willkommen!
Our Boeing 757-28A ER crosses the clouds and starts descending at our scheduled ETA of 9:45 AM, CET. We pass a thick layer of scattered clouds before seeing Europe, for the first time. The houses and forests look very beautiful. This view could almost be a postcard. As the aircraft gets closer and closer to European soil, I get more and more excited. Shortly before the gear is down and locked, the seat belt sign turns on and off, to advise the flight attendants that the flight is on final approach and to take their seats. The cars are more and more visible and, even if it sounds weird, I could say they already looked more European. We touch down smoothly on runway 23L or 23R (I can't remember).
As we taxi to our parking position, my other seat mate, who had been to Germany before, tells us that in Düsseldorf, we will most likely park on the tarmac and will get off by the stairway, to board a transborder bus that will take us to the terminal. I suppose it is all since that large fire that destroyed a large portion of the gates in an area of the airport. And that's exactly what happens. The plane parks next to other charter airliners, and we get off by the stairways, on to a large bus, that waits to be crowded before leaving for the terminal. The lines for the passport control are very short, and my passport is quickly checked and stamped by a friendly immigration agent. After that, it's straight ahead for the baggage claim. Unlike my first flight, my suitcase is one of the last to be offloaded. It is only the beginning of an exciting adventure of 14 days in Germany, or as they say in their language, Deutschland! | ||||||
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This is part of a series of 4 articles on a trip from Montreal to Düsseldorf and back. Click on the numbers below for easy navigation.
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Radar: by Sergio Ortega. Plane at dawn: capture from a Lan Chile commercial from The Night of the AdEaters. All other B757 pictures: by Sergio Ortega, captured and modified from Microsoft Flight Simulator 98. © 1998-2008, airodyssey.net. All rights reserved. Disclaimer, trademarks, privacy policy. |
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